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Patrons visit potential paratransit bus

The vehicle on display at the Quincy Street Station from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday was a Glaval paratransit bus.

Topeka Metro is seeking input and feedback from people who are checking out the paratransit possibilities.

The vehicle on display at the Quincy Street Station from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday was a Glaval paratransit bus.

The interior of the paratransit bus by Glaval features seats that can be folded out of the way to allow for wheelchair patrons.

A Topeka Metro paratransit driver takes a break on one of the current buses.

The "copilot" seat on the Glaval bus eliminates a blind spot for bus drivers.

One of the paratransit bus possibilities features seats that can be folded out of the way to allow for more wheelchair patrons.

The Quincy Street Station had a shiny new bus parked in its lot for four hours Tuesday.

The paratransit wasn’t property of the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority — but it is an option, and its presence Tuesday gave the Metro staff and passengers a chance to throw in their two cents on the multimillion-dollar decision.

The vehicle on display at the station from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. was a Glaval paratransit bus. The other option the Metro is considering, from Goshen, will be on display from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Quincy station, 820 S.E. Quincy. Passengers and staff members are encouraged to submit their feedback regarding the purchase.

Replacing the 15-bus paratransit fleet is expected to cost $1.2 million — an amount already set aside in Topeka Metro’s capital outlay budget for this fiscal year.

The buses need to be replaced because they are pushing seven years old and 190,000 miles, maintenance director Alan Parrish said previously. Usually the paratransit buses are replaced after five years and 100,000 miles, he said.

The Glaval bus on site Tuesday sported such amenities as a co-pilot door and chairs that can flip up to accommodate fixed route, as well as paratransit needs. It sits up to 14 passengers and can carry up to 800 pounds on its wheelchair lift. The current Metro paratransit buses carry up to nine riders and can lift 600 pounds.

The Glaval bus also had wider, staggered aisles to make room for larger wheelchairs.

“The goal is random access,” said Brent Roy, regional sales manager with National Bus Service. “That way, you don’t have to have the first one on be the last one off.”

A bus similar to the one he brought from Indiana would cost somewhere in the range of $60,000, Roy said. Ultimately, however, that depends on what the Metro wants to order, he said.

Parrish said he wants the new buses to be equipped with a backup camera, a mobile data terminal that relays immediate changes to routes and more flip seats so the buses can be used on fixed routes as well.

Another significant feature he would like, Parrish said, is the co-pilot chair. Not that anyone will be sitting in it, he said, but the blind spot plaguing paratransit drivers will be eliminated.

Rather than cutting out a portion of the vehicle to make room for the passenger door, the co-pilot feature allows the vehicle to maintain its structure, Roy said. That makes the vehicle stronger, improves mirror placement and removes the large blind spot for drivers, he said.

Getting rid of the blind spot is a main selling point for paratransit driver Estevan Guzman.

“It’s going to make a lot of difference,” Guzman, who has been driving paratransit buses for the Metro for seven years, said of the co-pilot feature.

Having more space also will allow him to transport more people at one time and have better access to them, Guzman said.

No one has made a decision on the buses yet, but most everyone can agree on at least one thing — the current fleet needs replacing.